Yearlong Teacher Resources

Teacher Guide
Grade 4
Core Knowledge Language Arts®
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Yearlong Teacher Resources
In this section you will find resources you will use throughout the year.

• Individual Code Chart

• Anecdotal Reading Records

• Tens Recording Chart and Tens Conversion Chart

• Using Chunking to Decode Multisyllabic Words

• Sound and Spelling of Schwa

Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 3

4 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts
Individual Code Chart

p pp
/p/
pot napping

b bb
/b/
bat rubbing

t tt ed
/t/
top sitting asked

d ed dd
/d/
dot filled add

c k ck ch cc
/k/
cat kid black school hiccup

g gg gu gh
/g/
gift egg guess ghost

ch tch
/ch/
chin itch
Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 5
Individual Code Chart

g j ge dge dg
/j/
gem jump fringe judge judging

f ff ph gh
/f/
fit stuff phone tough

v ve
/v/
vet twelve

s c ss ce se
/s/
sun cent dress prince rinse

st sc
whistle scent

s z se zz ze
/z/
dogs zip pause buzz bronze

th
/th/
thin
6 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts
Individual Code Chart

th
/th/
them

m mm mb
/m/
mad swimming thumb

n nn kn gn
/n/
nut running knock sign

ng n
/ng/
sing pink

r rr wr
/r/
red ferret wrist

l ll
/l/
lip bell

h
/h/
hot
Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 7
Individual Code Chart

w wh
/w/
wet when

y
/y/
yes

x
/x/
tax

sh ch
/sh/
shop chef

qu
/qu/
quit

8 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts

Individual Code Chart

a
/a/
hat

i y
/i/
it myth

e ea
/e/
pet head

u o o_e ou
/u/
but son come touch

o a
/o/
hop lava

a e
/ә/
about debate

al le el ul il
/ә/ + /l/
animal apple travel awful pencil
Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 9
Individual Code Chart

a a_e ai ay ey
/ae/
paper cake wait day hey

eigh ea
weight great

y e i ea ee
/ee/
funny me ski beach bee

ie ey e_e
cookie key Pete

i i_e y ie igh
/ie/
biting bite try tie night

o o_e ow oa oe
/oe/
open home snow boat toe

u u_e ue
/ue/
unit cute cue
10 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts
Individual Code Chart

oo u u_e ew ue
/oo/
soon student tune new blue

ou ui o o_e
soup fruit do move

oo u
/oo/
look push

ou ow
/ou/
shout now

oi oy
/oi/
oil toy

au aw al ough augh
/aw/
Paul paw wall bought caught

Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 11

Individual Code Chart

ar
/ar/
car

er or ur ar ir
/er/
her work hurt dollar bird

ear
earth

or ore ar our oar

/or/
for more war four roar

oor
door

12 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts

 Anecdotal Reading Records
Week of:                   

This template is for recording anecdotal notes about students’ reading abilities. You can record things such as: (1) repeated
trouble with specific sound-spelling correspondences; (2) difficulty with certain digraphs/letter teams; (3) inability to segment
isolated words; and (4) progress with specific skills.

Name: Name: Name: Name:

Name: Name: Name: Name:

Name: Name: Name: Name:

Name: Name: Name: Name:

Name: Name: Name: Name:

Name: Name: Name: Name:

Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 13

 Scoring Using a Tens Chart
Tens Assessment
Assessment in CKLA is intended to be frequent and ongoing, with an eye toward identifying problems early. The goal of many
of the exercises in the program is to make student achievement visible or audible. When a student completes an activity page,
he is leaving visible marks, allowing you to assess his skills. When a student responds orally, she is producing audible signals,
allowing you to make similar judgments about skills.

In order to monitor student progress and facilitate the early identification of students who are struggling, we strongly recommend
that you use some system of assessment and recordkeeping. You may want to consider using the Tens system described
below.

With the Tens system of assessment, raw scores i.e., number of answers correct, are converted to numbers between 0 and
10 using the Tens Conversion Chart (which follows this section). A 10 indicates excellent performance, a 1 indicates very poor
performance, and a 0 indicates no performance.

To use the chart to determine a student’s Tens score, first locate the number of answers the student answered correctly (along
the top of the chart) and then locate the number of “test items” (along the left side of the chart). Next, find the square where the
column with the correct number of answers and the row with the number of items meet. This square contains the student’s Tens
score. By using the Tens Conversion Chart, you can easily convert any raw score, from 0 to 30, into a Tens score.1

Tens scores are recorded on a simple grid, called a Tens Recording Chart, where the students’ names are listed in the vertical
columns and the various exercises are listed in the horizontal rows. (A blank Tens Recording Chart follows and can be copied as
needed.) Once you have recorded a number of Tens scores, it will be very easy to get an overview of student progress because
all of the scores are comparable.

By simply running your eye along the row where a particular student’s scores are recorded, you can form a reliable estimate as
to how the student is doing. If Janella’s scores are 8, 9, 10, 7, 9, 10, you can feel confident she is learning the material. If Nathan’s
scores are 2, 3, 5, 1, 3, 2, you can be sure he is struggling.

In the Teacher Guide, we typically mark only formal assessments as a Tens Assessment. We hope you will calculate Tens scores
for students for each of these assessments. Note that many classroom and Activity Book exercises are not explicitly designated
as a Tens Assessment opportunity, but are also suitable for calculating Tens scores.

There are two kinds of Tens scores: observational Tens scores and data-driven Tens Scores.

Data-driven Tens scores are based on the number of correct answers on an exercise or worksheet. To record this kind of Tens
score, use the Tens Conversion Chart to convert a raw score into a Tens score.

Observational Tens scores are based on your observations during class. They are, necessarily, a bit less objective than the
data-driven Tens scores. However, they are still valuable.

We suggest you use the following basic rubric for recording observational Tens scores.

9–10 Student appears to have excellent understanding

7–8 Student appears to have good understanding

5–6 Student appears to have basic understanding

14 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts

 3–4 Student appears to be having problems understanding

1–2 Student appears to be having serious problems understanding

0 Student appears to have no understanding/does not participate

If you do not observe a student, or if you were not able to make a determination of the student’s performance, simply leave the
cell blank.

1
Note: If you are accustomed to and prefer to use percentages, simply add a zero to each Tens score to obtain the percentage
correct. For examples, a 10 is equivalent to 100%, a 5 is equivalent to 50%.

Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 15

 Tens Recording Chart
Use this grid to record Tens scores. Refer to the Tens Conversion Chart that follows.

Name

16 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts

 Tens Conversion Chart

Number Correct
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1 0 10
2 0 5 10
3 0 3 7 10
4 0 3 5 8 10
5 0 2 4 6 8 10
6 0 2 3 5 7 8 10
7 0 1 3 4 6 7 9 10
8 0 1 3 4 5 6 8 9 10
9 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10
10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 0 1 2 3 4 5 5 6 7 8 9 10
12 0 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 9 10
Number of Questions

13 0 1 2 2 3 4 5 5 6 7 8 8 9 10
14 0 1 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 8 9 9 10
15 0 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 9 10
16 0 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 8 8 9 9 10
17 0 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 8 8 9 9 10
18 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10
19 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10
20 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10
21 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10
22 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10
23 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10
24 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 10 10
25 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 10 10
26 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 10 10
27 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 10 10
28 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10
29 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10
30 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10

Locate the number of correct answers the student produced in the top row and Tens Score Result
the number of items in the activity in the leftmost column. The cell where the 8–10 Student likely has a strong
column and the row converge indicates the Tens score. Using the Tens Conversion understanding of content/skills.
Chart, you can easily convert any raw score, from 0 to 30, into a Tens score.

The Tens Conversion Chart was created to be used with activities that have a defined 5–7 Student may benefit from
additional support.
number of items (such as written assessments, end-of-unit assessments, and activity
pages). However, you may use the Tens system to record informal observations, such
as an end-of-lesson check-in, as well. You may want to use the following rubric to 0–4 Student may benefit
interpret observational Tens scores. from intensive support or
remediation.

Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 17

 Using Chunking to Decode Multisyllabic Words
Mastering the various letter-sound correspondences taught in CKLA will enable students to read one-syllable words with
ease. However, knowing these individual letter-sound correspondences is no guarantee that students will be able to apply
this knowledge in reading multisyllabic words. To this end, most students will benefit from additional instruction in learning to
recognize, chunk, and read parts of words—syllables—as a way to decode longer words.

When students first encounter two-syllable words in Grade 1 materials, we insert a small dot as a visual prompt or cue between
the syllables (e.g., sun·set). This is done in both the Workbooks and Readers. The dot is intended to visually break the word into
two chunks, each of which can then be sounded out separately. As Grade 1 progresses, the dot is eliminated and students are
expected to begin visually chunking parts of longer words on their own.

Starting in Grade 1, CKLA introduces the decoding of two-syllable words by having students work first with two-syllable
compound words (e.g., cat·fish, cup·cake, pea·nut, drive·way). For compound words, we place the dot between the two
component words. These are among the easiest two-syllable words to chunk and decode because each syllable of a compound
word is already a familiar spelling pattern students have encountered in reading one-syllable words. In addition, each syllable or
chunk is also frequently recognizable as a word part that has semantic familiarity.

In addition to learning to decode two-syllable compound words, Grade 1 students also tackle two-syllable words that consist
of a root word with a simple suffix (e.g., yawn·ing, hunt·er, punt·ed). Typically the dot is placed immediately before the suffix.
However, for words that contain double-letter spellings for consonants, in CKLA, we typically place the divider after the double-
letter spelling rather than between the two consonants (e.g., batt·ed, bigg·er, bunn·y). Teachers familiar with other ways to
chunk or divide syllables may initially find this odd. This is done, however, because the double-letter spellings have been taught
as single-spelling units in CKLA since Kindergarten (‘nn’ > /n/, ‘mm’ > /m/, ‘tt’ > /t/, etc.) and it is preferrable to be consistent
in representing these spellings in the way students have been taught to process them (i.e., as whole entities for a sound).
(Ultimately as students become more proficient at decoding and chunking syllables through subsequent grade levels, it really
does not matter whether they visually chunk and decode these words as batt·ed or bat·ted.) Most students find chunking and
decoding these two-syllable words consisting of root words and suffixes relatively easy.

A greater challenge is encountered when chunking and decoding other types of multisyllabic words. To be successful in
decoding these longer words, it is helpful if teachers and students recognize certain syllable types. Most reading specialists
identify five different syllable types:

Note: Syllables exemplifying each type are underlined.

• Closed Syllables (CVC, VC, CCVCC, etc.)—always associated with a “short” vowel sound (e.g., /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/): let,
pad, rod, tin, fun, pic·nic, un·til

• Vowel Digraph Syllables—always associated with two vowel letters that represent a unique vowel sound: joint, speak,
proud, play, coun·sel, be·low. (The Magic ‘E’ Syllable (VCE) can be considered a subtype of the Vowel Digraph Syllable. In
this case, the letter ‘e’ at the end of a syllable affects the pronunciation of the vowel letter that precedes it, even though it is
separated from the other vowel by a consonant letter. The Magic ‘E’ syllable is always associated with a “long” vowel
sound (/ae/, /ee/, /ie/, /oe/, /ue/): cake, home, like, mule, Pete, mis·take, stam·pede)

• R-Controlled Syllables: art, curb, girl, fort, clerk, tur·nip, ar·tist, fe·ver

• Open Syllables (V or CV)—always associated with a “long” vowel sound (e.g., /ae/, /ee/, /ie/, /oe/, /ue/): go, me, hi,
a·pron, fi·nal, com·pre·hend

• Consonant –LE Syllables (C –LE): sim·ple, puz·zle, raf·fle, ca·ble, ri·fle

18 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts

 In CKLA, we think it is also helpful to designate one additional syllable type:

• Schwa Syllables ben·e·fit, app·e·tite, a·bout, hos·pit·al, e·mo·tion

Note: The consonant –LE syllable is also a schwa syllable, but we distinguish it separately because of the way this spelling
is chunked when dividing words into syllables.

To be clear, in order to decode words, students do not need to identify syllables by these names. The names of the
syllable types are provided here only to establish a common vocabulary for teachers as they use the CKLA materials.
It is necessary, however, for students to become fluent readers of longer words in increasingly complex text. If they are able to
visually parse certain spelling patterns as syllable chunks, they can quickly and easily decode each syllable.

The first type of two-syllable word pattern to which students are introduced is the closed syllable pattern in two-syllable words.
These two-syllable words are also relatively easy for students to chunk and recognize as an example of the familiar CVC, VC,
CCVCC, etc., spelling pattern they encountered in one-syllable words in Kindergarten.

Two closed syllables in a word are divided as follows:

• When two different consonants stand between two vowels, the syllables are divided between the consonants, creating one or
more closed syllables.

ad · mit nap · kin trum · pet

• For words that contain double-letter spellings for consonants, we typically place the divider after the double-letter spelling
rather than between the consonants. As noted earlier, this is done because the double-letter spellings have been taught as
single-spelling units in CKLA since Kindergarten (‘nn’ > /n/, ‘mm’ > /m/, ‘tt’ > /t/, etc.).

traff · ic muff · in happ · en

• When there are three consonants between two vowels, in general, the first consonant is divided so it goes with the first vowel
and the other two consonants with the second vowel.

mon · ster con · tract pil · grim

When students have difficulty reading a two-syllable word, you may find it useful to use your finger to cover the second syllable,
revealing only the first syllable for them to read. Once students read the first syllable, the second syllable can be uncovered and
read. If necessary, you can then model for students how to blend the two syllables aloud:

magnet

mag

net

magnet

Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 19

 In Grade 1, students encountered other two-syllable words with various combinations of the magic ‘E’ syllable, the vowel
digraph syllable, the r-controlled vowel syllable, and the closed syllable.

• Chunking these syllable types follows the same patterns for division as noted above for closed syllables:

tar · get for · get es · cape ig · loo scoun · drel char · coal

In Grade 2, students were introduced to more challenging multisyllabic words.

Two-syllable words with only one consonant between the vowels are especially difficult to chunk because they may be divided
either before or after the single consonant. Students are taught to use a flexible approach in chunking syllables with a single
consonant between the vowels, trying each possibility when they encounter an unfamiliar word.

• When only one consonant stands between two vowels, first divide the word in front of the consonant and then sound it out as
an open syllable:

pu · pil vi · rus mo · ment

unit

nit

However, sometimes the word may divide after the consonant, creating a closed syllable. There is no definitive rule for when to
divide before or after the consonant. Students will need to be flexible and try dividing and sounding the word each way—before
and/or after the consonant—to determine whether they recognize a familiar word as they sound out each possibility. In order to
recognize whether a word is familiar when sounded either way, the word must be one that the student has heard before (i.e., the
word must be in the student’s oral vocabulary). Obviously, this will represent an additional challenge for students who have a
limited vocabulary and/or for whom English is a second language.

• If the word divides after the consonant, a closed syllable is created:

cam · el mel · on pun · ish

lemon

lem

on

20 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts

 In Grade 2, students were also introduced to consonant –LE syllables. Chunking these words into syllables is fairly
straightforward.

• When a word ends in consonant –LE, we divide in front of the consonant, creating a first syllable that may be open, closed, or
even r-controlled, depending on the other spellings in the words:

ban · gle twin · kle sta · ble cra · dle tur · tle

simple

sim

ple

In the later part of Grade 2, students were introduced to syllables in which various spellings represent the schwa sound. English
words with more than one syllable usually include a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables. When a syllable in a
spoken word is unstressed or weakly stressed, its vowel sound is often reduced to a flat, rather nondescript vowel sound that
linguists call a schwa. This happens in many English words. Spellings for the schwa sound include ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘al’, ‘il’, ‘el’, and ‘tion’.
Chunking and decoding words that include the schwa sound can be quite challenging for many students.

• We divide syllables with a schwa sound in different ways, recognizing that the syllable with the schwa sound has a particular
spelling:

a · bout de · pos · it med · al e · vil nick · el lo · tion

As noted earlier, the consonant –LE syllable is actually a schwa syllable, but we identify it separately because of the way this
spelling is chunked when dividing words into syllables.

• Finally, while students encountered some simple root words and affixes in Grade 1, throughout the entire year of Grade 3
instruction, they study prefixes, suffixes, and root words in much greater depth and are taught to chunk syllables accordingly.

pre·tend non·sense tri·cycle re·peat self·ish sad·ness help·less

By combining the specific code knowledge of letter-sound spellings taught in Kindergarten–Grade 3, with the ability to chunk
multisyllabic words into smaller decodable parts, students will have the tools they need to independently decode just about any
word they encounter.

Core Knowledge Language Arts  |  Grade 4 Teacher Resources 21

 Sound and Spelling of Schwa
In order to teach the concept of /ə/ well, you will need to first understand it yourself.

English words with more than one syllable usually include a combination of stressed and unstressed syllables. When a syllable
in a spoken word is unstressed or weakly stressed, its vowel sound is often reduced to a flat, rather nondescript vowel sound
linguists call schwa (/ə/). This happens in many English words. More than 3,000 of the 25,000 words in our database (about 13%)
have at least one syllable in which the vowel sound is reduced to /ə/.

The exact pronunciation of /ə/ varies somewhat from word to word and also from region to region. In many words, and in many
parts of the United States, /ə/ sounds very much like the sound /u/. For example, in the word about, the unstressed /ə/ sound in
the first syllable sounds a great deal like /u/. In the word America, both the first and the last vowel sounds are unstressed, and
both sound a great deal like /u/. In some regions of the United States, many speakers use an /u/-like /ə/ sound in words such as
along, balloon, debate, benefit, and telephone.

However, for certain words, and/or for speakers in certain parts of the country, /ə/ may sound a little more like /i/. How do
people in your region pronounce the word benefit? Do they pronounce the second vowel sound more like /u/ or /i/? What about
telephone? Do people where you live say /t/ /e/ /l/ /u/ /f/ /oe/ /n/? Or does the spoken word sound more like
/t/ /e/ /l/ /i/ /f/ /oe/ /n/? What about debate? Does the local pronunciation sound more like /d/ /u/ /b/ /ae/ /t/ or /d/ /i/ /b/ /ae/ /t/?
Neither pronunciation is more correct than the other. These are all examples of natural variation or dialect. All of these examples
contain a reduction to /ə/.

Spelling the Schwa Sound

Words that contain the schwa sound represent a significant spelling challenge since there are so many possible spellings for this
sound. Some of the most frequent spellings are listed below with sample words:

‘a’ about, China, around, aloud, acquire

‘e’ benefit, decay, appetite, severe, Tennessee

‘al’ final, normal, hospital

‘le’ apple, table, crackle

‘el’ angel, chapel, nickel

‘ul’ awful, consul

‘il’ pencil, stencil, evil

‘ion’ emotion, determination, tension, revision

22 Teacher Resources Grade 4  |  Core Knowledge Language Arts

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